Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TON-TINE, n. [Fr. tontine; said to be from its inventor, Tonti, an Italian.]

An annuity or survivorship; or a loan raised on life-annuities, with the benefit of survivorship. Thus an annuity is shared among a number, on the principle that the share of each, at his death, is enjoyed by the survivors, until at last the whole goes to the last survivor, or to the last two or three, according to the terms on which the money is advanced.